Remembering a Special Sweater Knitting Pattern

Have you ever seen a sweater and admired it, and then thought about it on and off for, I don’t know, ten years or so?

I have. In a class on beginning Fair Isle, the teacher was wearing the most beautiful Fair Isle cardigan. The colors, pattern, motifs, and just everything, worked together beautifully.

It was so inspirational, and aspirational! I excelled in that class because I wanted to knit that sweater.

I haven’t knit it, though. Although I know how to work Fair Isle patterns, and I’ve knit a few small pieces, but I don’t enjoy it as much as I want to. I tend to knit too tight on stranded color projects, so I have puckering here and there. I can’t imagine taking on an entire sweater project; I would be so tense by the end of it!

But as I was flipping though Scottish Knits in preparation for writing this newsletter, I noticed the Thistle Cardigan, shown at right. Isn’t it pretty? The cool think about this cardi is that it’s not entirely knit in Fair Isle. The fronts are, as you can see, but the back and sleeves are striped, which I can totally handle.

The Thistle is a classic cardigan with a modern twist, and I love it. I’m going to—you guessed it—add it to my queue. (I need to spend some quality time with my queue and insert a little realism in there . . .)

Scottish Knits is a great pattern book; it includes plenty of Fair Isle projects as well as cable patterns that really evoke that Scottish feeling. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find:

The Ross Cardigan is most like the sweater that I can’t get out of my mind. It was blue, cream, and gray, but it had that intricate all-over pattern.

The cable sweater knitting pattern in this book that sticks out to me is the Fyfe Cardigan . I love a short-sleeved cable vest; I’ve knit at least three of them. They’re so versatile for my wardrobe style.

Scottish Knits is by Martin Storey, the amazing Rowan designer. I’ve admired so many of his patterns over the years—it’s a pleasure to look through this amazing collection. Scottish Knits is on sale big-time, so get your copy today!

Cheers,

P.S. Is there a sweater knitting pattern that you can’t stop thinking about? Leave a comment and tell me about it!